Taurine

Taurine's role is in the context of cancer is paradoxical:

Systemically (for the whole body): It is generally chemoprotective and anti-cancer due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, helping to maintain genomic stability and overall health.

Ma N, He F, Kawanokuchi J, Wang G, Yamashita T. Taurine and Its Anticancer Functions: In Vivo and In Vitro Study. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2022;1370:121-128. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-93337-1_11. PMID: 35882787.

Locally (within the tumor itself): It may be hijacked to support cancer survival by aiding in osmoregulation and potentially modulating local immune responses.

Sharma, S., Rodems, B.J., Baker, C.D. et al. Taurine from tumour niche drives glycolysis to promote leukaemogenesis. Nature 644, 263–272 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09018-7

Taurine in combination with chemotherapy:

Flemming, A. Tumour cell consumption of taurine exhausts CD8+ T cells. Nat Rev Immunol 24, 306 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41577-024-01032-6

In mouse models of gastric cancer, chemotherapy upregulated SLC6A6 in cancer cells. However, taurine supplementation increased the efficacy of chemotherapy, indicating that its capacity to re-invigorate CD8+ T cells outweighs its direct tumour-promoting effects. A clinical trial has been initiated to test oral taurine in combination with chemotherapy or immunotherapy in patients with gastric cancer.

Taurine in combination with immunotherapy:

Ping Y, Shan J, Liu Y, Liu F, Wang L, Liu Z, Li J, Yue D, Wang L, Chen X, Zhang Y. Taurine enhances the antitumor efficacy of PD-1 antibody by boosting CD8+ T cell function. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2023 Apr;72(4):1015-1027. doi: 10.1007/s00262-022-03308-z. Epub 2022 Oct 20. PMID: 36261540; PMCID: PMC10991389.

Taurine plus immune checkpoint blockade antibody significantly attenuated tumor growth and markedly improved the function and proliferation of CD8+ T cells in a mouse tumor model. Thus, our findings indicate that taurine is an important driver for improving CD8+ T cell immune responses and could serve as a potential therapeutic agent for cancer patients.